Fran
This wreck was marked in 2005, but due to dives on the
(possible) Van, we didn't get to this one again until 2006. We dove
the wreck on Fran Marcoux's boat, so will name the wreck after him until a
positive ID is made.
We used the grapple and liveboat technique to dive it.
I'm becoming a believer in this style, as in the case of these deep wrecks
it provides a positive contact with the wreck prior to the dive. I've
been on, and witnessed, too many mud dives to risk the shot-line again.
On this dive, we dropped the weighted grapple straight down and obviously
missed the wreck but were able to get very close by moving the grapple
around until a contact was made. In this case it was some lobster line
tangled in the wreck, and the grapple was about 15 ft. off the wreck.
The grapple caught near the stern, and I saw the wreck
from stern to beyond the engine and boiler. At that point the wreck
appeared to be somewhat broken up, but we'll need another dive to confirm.
It's definitely a steel-hulled ship with wooden decking which has largely
disintegrated. There are no structures remaining on the deck - to some
extent this wreck reminds me of the Coyote, but the steel bulkheads remain
in place. I did not have time to swim through the interior, but it's
easily accessible. The ship has a 15 - 20 ft. profile so there's a
nice swim-through available. I noticed that the stern is broken off to
an extent. It's likely that this wreck is another of the scuttled wrecks
in the area, but it'll take another dive to confirm.
I also came across a very interesting resident of the
wreck, a huge cod. This thing has to be five feet long with a
corresponding girth. It reminded me of a jewfish it was so large.
It seemed a bit perturbed to see me on the wreck, and came up out of the
wreck near the boiler and lazily swam away. I noticed little mono on
the wreck and none of the jigs one normally sees on other wrecks, so I'm
guessing this is not well known to fishermen which probably explains the
large cod. I hope this thing is around for the next dive - it's worth
the dive just to see.
Further note: A subsequent dive revealed the bow
section broken off about 30 ft. forward of the engine, and just a debris
field left. Definitely a scuttled wreck, and there are no further
plans to dive it. We did see the giant cod again, so it appears to be
a resident. Hope this one doesn't wind up on a hook.
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